This week on Sound Effect, we tell stories of risks and rewards and why people make the decision to take the leap. Up, Up And Away Astronaut Wendy Lawrence knows the risks and rewards of space travel very well. She remembers what it was like to travel into space on the first mission after the space shuttle Columbia exploded while returning to Earth, killing all seven crew members back in 2003. Stardew Valley After graduating college with a computer science degree, Eric Barone could have gotten

A lot of bands have a very particular sound that is very identifiably them, and that often makes it easier to be marketed and defined. But Sebastian and the Deep Blue, from one song to the next, can sound like a completely different band. In fact, in their “about” section on their website, this is how they define themselves: “Sebastian and the Deep Blue is a Post punk inspired Chamber pop band with full brass and string section. A high-energy, horn-powered, afrobeat inspired alternative rock and

Getting people into space involves a lot of risks. From the explosive fuel needed to launch a rocket to the flecks of space dust that could poke a hole in an orbiting shuttle, astronauts are always prepared for the worst. Wendy Lawrence, a retired astronaut and naval aviator living in Washington state, understood the risks of her job even when seven of her colleagues were killed reentering the Earth's atmosphere in 2003. After the Columbia shuttle tragedy, Lawrence went right back to work,

So when we get emotional about something, we often have to weigh the risks and rewards of acting on those emotions. If someone upsets us, we need to decide if there is enough of a reward in confronting that person, while potentially facing the risks of upsetting that person as well. I found myself in one of those situations at small-town bar in the middle of Washington, upset at a very, very famous young man, and wrote this essay. I feel like I never, ever get out of town. So when I do take

There has been a lot of attention paid in recent years to the risks of playing professional football. While head injuries are nothing new to football, the National Football League implemented nine years ago, and has since constantly tweaked a concussion protocol, and has adjusted other rules to assist in player safety. But professional football players seem to be getting bigger, stronger, and faster every year, and despite the safety measures put in place, major injuries still seem to happen

After graduating with a degree in computer science, most people with that valuable diploma in hand, would head out into the world hoping to land a well-paying job in the tech world. Eric Barone did not do this. After graduating from the University of Washington in Tacoma with a degree in computer science, Barone could not bring himself to pursue a job at Microsoft, Google or Amazon. Instead, he took a part-time job at a Seattle theater and spent the rest of his time building a video game. He was

In 2001, producer Warren Langford found a toy cassette recorder at a yard sale in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This was not any old recorder. This was a Talkboy, the must-have Christmas toy from Warren’s childhood that he never received. And the 50-cent asking price was too good to pass up. But after purchasing it, Warren discovered there was still a cassette inside. On the tape was a young boy who identified himself as Marcos, introducing almost 40 songs, each one about 30 seconds long. Warren became

Private investigative work is dangerous, thrilling, romantic – or at least, that’s the impression you’d get if you just hear about P.I.s from TV and movies. In reality, according to David Liston, it can be so tedious that “there has to be something kind of wrong with you in order to be able to do it.” Liston is principal investigator at David Liston Investigative Services which is based in University Place. He says the movie version of P.I. work often gives clients unrealistic expectations. He

Deep down on the sea floor off the coast of Alaska, about a dozen underwater microphones sit, anchored down by big heavy wheels from old trains. They sit and listen to the world of sounds around them.“I mean, you can hear earthquakes and volcanoes," says Kate Stafford, oceanographer at the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington. " You can hear ships. You can hear winds and waves. And you can hear fish and seals and whales and anything produces sound underwater. You can listen 24

Sometimes on Facebook you might read what seems like a cry for help from a friend, someone struggling to cope who might need you to intervene. Or maybe it’s nothing -- just someone quoting song lyrics or something. It’s hard to know, and it’s often easier to just ignore it. The suicide prevention group Forefront is helping create tools for people who notice red flags in a friend’s post. These are tools that Stephen Paul Miller didn't have several years ago, when he saw a concerning post on by a